As a new survey is out that shows children are increasingly turning away from drink and drugs, it comes as a small relief to parents who hope that their children don’t fall in with the wrong crowd and start on something they shouldn’t.
Girls are apparently emulating heroines such as Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series, and drug, alcohol taking and smoking is apparently down in general.
Yes, we all hope that our children choose the right path and choose not to do something. When it comes down to it, though, it is entirely up to them as an individual to pick the right choice.
You can’t stop them from making mistakes, and just hope that they come to the right decision by themselves.
At school, it was always a case of my best friends going down to the end of the school field for a smoke while I’d rather sit it out and go to the library or something than get involved as I couldn’t stand smoking.Yech.
At my year living away from home, when I was on my journalism course, I was the one who would be sat quaffing away on the drinks and having a chat in the kitchen rather than do the whole smoking cannabis thing going on in the living room.
I didn’t want to know.
Same thing for friends back at home, too, wanting you to do it.
It all comes down to personal choice. Nobody can MAKE you do it. It has to come from within. Keeping children educated and well read on the matter is the only way to stop them, and make them choose their own way.
If characters like Hermione Granger are making it seem more normal, and the way to be to be ‘cool’, then all the better in my opinion.
You and me are very alike! I’ve always been teetotal and have never tried smoking or drugs. I think setting an example goes a long way towards influencing kids – my parents are both teetotal and so is my sister. No coincidence, I’m sure. Education is key as is being with the ‘right’ group of friends – we just have to keep our fingers crossed that we’ve taught them enough to choose the right friends.
Exactly, we can just hope they choose the right thing to do. Never touched drugs, or smoked, but I’ve never got the hang of the teetotal thing – let’s hope they do better than me on that score!
I was brought up in a shop and saw how much people spent on cigarettes, which was enough to put me off! I tried several different types of alcohol when I was 14 and 15 and disliked them all so I became teetotal!
As for drugs I’ve never been in contact with them. In fact I’ve only ever seen drugs once when I passed a man about to shoot up at the end of the platform at the train station. I muttered ‘you idiot’ as I passed him.
When I was a teenager I did try smoking. It was gross, so I quit. We do drink alcohol in my house, and my husband and I both come from homes where the adults drink. Not excessively, but there is usually wine with dinner. I love how smoking is now being recognised more as something nasty and it’s cool image is fading out.